National Leadership Visits the Saxton Laboratory

It was a busy summer at the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Turner-Fairbank Highway 

Research Center (TFHRC). A debate in Congress to address the Highway Trust Fund shortfall sparked 

national interest in the importance of transportation infrastructure and research and brought government 

officials at the highest levels to TFHRC. 

On July 15, 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx 

visited FHWA’s Office of Operations Research and Development (R&D) Saxton Transportation 

Operations Laboratory (Saxton Laboratory) and its Test Vehicle Garage at TFHRC. During their tour of 

the Saxton Laboratory, the President and Secretary learned about past and ongoing FHWA research on 

vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications. Specific topics included 

truck platooning, eco-approach and departure at signalized intersections, and speed harmonization. 

FHWA Office of Operations R&D Director Joe Peters explained how these technologies could 

provide significant mobility, safety, and 

environmental benefits that could transform 

the way transportation performs in the 

future. Making these applications available 

in the marketplace starts with conducting 

R&D to fully explore the challenges and 

opportunities associated with the 

technologies. 

President Obama and Secretary Foxx 

also visited the laboratory’s Test Vehicle 

Garage, where they were able to see the 

technologies that enable V2V and V2I 

communications. FHWA’s Taylor 

Lochrane described the capabilities of 

TFHRC’s research vehicle fleet, which 

include the latest in-vehicle safety 

technologies and enabling technologies for 

connected automation research. (continued 

on next page)

TRANSPORTATION OPERATIONS 

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center 

Fall 2014

UPDATE

OPERATIONS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center 

President Obama poses in the Saxton Laboratory with members of the Operations R&D Team.

Lyle Saxton Receives 

Lifetime Achievement 

Award 

On September 7, 2014, Lyle 

Saxton—the namesake for 

FHWA’s Saxton 

Transportation Operations 

Laboratory—received a 

Lifetime Achievement Award 

at the 2014 ITS World 

Congress in Detroit, MI. 

Saxton worked for FHWA for 

27 years and ended his career 

as Director of the Office of 

Safety and Traffic Operations 

R&D at TFHRC. He was an 

industry leader in some of the 

earliest ITS, including today’s 

global positioning system 

navigation and information 

systems. 

He also led research activities 

at the onset of the national 

Intelligent Vehicle Highway 

Society of America, which set 

the direction for current 

national programs. “He has 

truly helped pave the way for a 

generation of transportation 

innovators who will continue to 

make life better for future 

generations," said ITS America 

President and CEO Scott 

Belcher. 

U.S. Secretary of Transportation 

Anthony Foxx greets President 

Obama outside of the Saxton 

Laboratory Test Vehicle Garage 

at TFHRC. The President gave a 

speech on the importance of 

investing in transportation 

infrastructure and technologies.
National Leadership Visits the Saxton Lab (cont’d)

 After his tour of TFHRC, which included 

a visit to the Office of Safety R&D’s Human 

Factors Laboratory and a drive in the Highway 

Driving Simulator vehicle, the President spoke 

to FHWA employees and contractors about the 

importance of investing in transportation 

infrastructure and technologies. “I just got a 

tour of a lab where automakers and 

government researchers team up to create new 

technologies that help cars communicate with 

the world around them and with each other. 

They can tell you if an oncoming vehicle is 

about to run a red light, or if a car’s coming 

around a blind corner, or if a detour will help 

you save some time and gas,” he said. 

 Following the President and Secretary’s 

visit, additional Federal and Congressional 

agencies arranged tours of TFHRC and the Saxton 

Laboratory. On August 6, 2014, Tom Power, the 

Deputy Chief Technology Officer of 

Telecommunications for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and U.S. Department 

of Transportation (USDOT) Assistant Secretary Greg Winfree, accompanied by Jim Arnold, USDOT’s 

expert on Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) and an alumnus of TFHRC, visited to discuss 

with FHWA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans for testing the potential 

interference of unlicensed Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) devices operating in and near the 5.9 gigahertz DSRC 

band. 

The group toured the Saxton Laboratory, where they discussed ongoing research, including the use of 

both in-vehicle and roadside DSRC 

radios for applications such as Curve 

Speed Warning, Truck Platooning, and 

Eco-Approach and Departure at a 

Signalized Intersection. As part of the 

tour, they rode in a test vehicle that 

demonstrated curve speed warning and 

the power of DSRC as a critical enabler 

of V2V safety applications. With a 

combined understanding and hands-on 

experience of the active and planned uses 

of the DSRC band, policymakers are 

better equipped to develop appropriate 

guidance and legislation surrounding the 

spectrum. 

Finally, on August 13 and 14, 2014, 

respectively, staff from the House 

Committee on Science, Space, and 

Technology, Subcommittee on Research 

and Technology, and the House 

Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Highways and Transit toured TFHRC and the Saxton Laboratory. The 

visitors were interested in learning about the ongoing FHWA operations research that the President 

discussed during his visit and how research lays the groundwork for nationwide deployment of innovative 

technologies. 

For more information on these visits, contact Joe Peters at joe.peters@dot.gov. 

National Operations Center of Excellence Visits TFHRC 

On August 27, 2014, FHWA’s Office of Operations R&D hosted a meeting at TFHRC with 

representatives from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), 

the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), and the Intelligent Transportation Society (ITS) of 

America to discuss the future National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE). A joint venture of 

AASHTO, ITE and ITS America, NOCoE receives funding from FHWA and provides technical support to 

States through a Web site, Webinars, workshops, and summit. (continued on next page)

OPERATIONS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center 

FHWA’s Taylor Lochrane shows the President the 

connected automation technologies built into FHWA’s 

research vehicle fleet.

“I just got a tour of a 

lab where automakers 

and government researchers team up to 

create new technologies 

that help cars communicate with the world 

around them and with 

each other.”

President Obama, in his 

speech at TFHRC

Who Has Visited the 

Saxton Laboratory?

The Saxton Laboratory hosted 

over 140 visitors this summer, 

including dignitaries such as: 

 President Barack Obama.

 USDOT Secretary Anthony 

Foxx.

 Assistant Secretary Greg 

Winfree, USDOT Office of 

Research and Technology.

 Thomas Power, Deputy Chief 

Technology Officer, Telecommunications, White 

House Office of Science and 

Technology Policy.

In addition, visitors included 

Congressional staff from the 

House Science and Technology 

and House Transportation and 

Infrastructure Committees and 

delegates from a number of 

USDOT partner and stakeholder organizations, including the 

Federal Communications Commission, AASHTO, ITE, ITS 

America, and the Office of the 

Inspector General. 

The visitors were briefed on the 

various research activities currently underway at the Saxton 

Laboratory and were offered 

live demonstrations of state-ofthe-art V2V and V2I technologies.

Joe Peters, FHWA Office of Operations R&D Director, 

explains to the President how ongoing FHWA connected 

automation research strives to combat the Nation’s 

growing congestion problem.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss opportunities to incorporate FHWA operations research 

into NOCoE activities and resources. The goal of NOCoE is to both promote and improve best practices 

for systems operations and management for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers. NOCoE will 

also eventually establish programs and support activities in the areas of transportation systems 

management and operations, freight operations, and security and emergency management (see http://

www.aashtojournal.org/Pages/060614CenterOfOperations.aspx).

The visitors from NOCoE toured the Saxton Laboratory, where Joe Bared, Team Leader of FHWA’s 

Office of Operations R&D Transportation Operations Concepts and Analysis Team, gave a presentation 

on FHWA research projects to assess the impacts of innovative roadway designs and traffic management 

concepts via modeling and simulation. 

The visit established a relationship of ongoing coordination between FHWA’s Office of Operations 

R&D and NOCoE. The future NOCoE Executive Director (once selected) will return to TFHRC to 

continue discussions on opportunities for collaboration. 

For more information, contact Ben McKeever at ben.mckeever@dot.gov.

FHWA Operations R&D Participates in Automated Vehicles Symposium

From July 14 to July 17, 2014, FHWA’s Office of Operations R&D staff participated in the Automated 

Vehicles Symposium in San Francisco, CA. The event, which was sponsored by the Transportation 

Research Board and the Association for 

Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, 

included 10 breakout sessions. FHWA’s 

Bob Ferlis co-moderated the session, “Near

-Term Connected/Automated Technology 

Deployment Opportunities.” The breakout 

session was organized into three sequential 

panel discussions: Technology, Innovators, 

and Early Deployment. The breakout 

session concluded with a large group 

discussion to summarize findings and key 

takeaways.

FHWA’s Osman Altan participated in 

the separate breakout session, “Truck 

Automation Opportunities,” where he 

presented on FHWA’s ongoing truck 

platooning research. FHWA is currently 

funding two Exploratory Advanced 

Research Program projects on truck 

platooning to develop and test an 

experimental truck platooning system and gather feedback from the trucking industry on key issues 

associated with the concept. 

In addition, FHWA’s Office of Operations R&D staff presented a poster on connected automation 

research, which included an overview of Saxton Laboratory facilities and research projects on ecoapproach and departure at signalized intersections, developing a platform technology for connected 

automation research, and cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) and truck platooning. Altan also 

presented a poster on FHWA’s Partial Automation for Truck Platooning project, which he coauthored 

with California Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology and the California Department of 

Transportation.

To view the full proceedings from both breakout sessions and the posters, visit the symposium’s 

Web site at http://www.auvsi.org/avs2014/home/. For more information, contact Bob Ferlis at 

robert.ferlis@dot.gov. 

FHWA Partners with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center 

FHWA signed a memorandum of agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 

Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC), Office of Cheltenham Operations, allowing 

FHWA to use and occupy land owned by the FLETC facility in Cheltenham, Maryland. The 372-acre 

facility, located 15 miles from downtown Washington, DC, offers law enforcement officers from over 76 

agencies in the metropolitan area a place to maintain their firearm and vehicle operations skills, as well as 

broaden and formalize their knowledge and skills associated with contemporary law enforcement 

responsibilities. The FLETC facility includes a 2.2-mile driver range for testing skid control, nonemergency vehicle operations, highway response, and urban grid. FHWA plans to use this range, which 

offers a secure and closed environment, to conduct vehicle testing for an upcoming study on CACC. 

For more information, contact Taylor Lochrane at taylor.lochrane@dot.gov. 

OPERATIONS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center 

Recent 

Presentations

Accessible 

Transportation 

Research

On August 26, 2014, FHWA’s 

Mohammed Yousuf presented 

at the ITS Heartland 

Conference in Branson, MO. 

During the session, “Transit’s 

Role in Advancing Mobility 

for All,” Yousuf discussed the 

Accessible Transportation 

Technologies Research 

Initiative, which will focus on 

improving the mobility of 

travelers with disabilities using 

ITS and technology. 

For more information, contact 

Mohammed Yousuf at 

mohammed.yousuf@dot.gov.

Public Meeting on V2I 

Deployment Guidance

On September 12, 2014, 

FHWA and ITS JPO 

conducted a meeting to seek 

stakeholder input on draft 

FHWA guidance on V2I 

deployment and on forming a 

coalition to support 

implementation. The meeting 

was aimed at State and local 

departments of transportation, 

transit and other operating 

agencies, and infrastructure 

owners who are starting to plan 

for the deployment and use of 

connected vehicle technologies 

in their area. It was also open 

to other stakeholders in the 

connected vehicle community, 

including national associations 

and the general public. Inputs 

gathered during the meeting 

will be used to inform FHWA 

guidance on V2I deployment, 

which is due out in late 2015. 

For more information, contact 

Ben McKeever at 

ben.mckeever@dot.gov. 

TFHRC’s Bob Ferlis and Osman Altan present a poster on 

FHWA’s Connected Automation Research at the Automated 

Vehicles Symposium.
Publication No.: FHWA-HRT-15-010

HRDO-1/10-14 (Web)

Research Data Exchange Release 2.0 Goes Live: Try it Out!

On July 1, 2014, USDOT launched Release 2.0 of the Research Data Exchange, a Web-based data 

resource provided by the USDOT’s Real-Time Data Capture and Management Program. Jointly 

developed and managed by FHWA 

and ITS JPO, the Research Data 

Exchange collects, manages, and 

provides archived and real-time 

multisource and multimodal data to 

support the developing and testing 

of ITS applications. The two new 

data environments in Release 2.0 

include real-time connected vehicle 

weather and engine status data 

from the Minnesota Department of 

Transportation’s maintenance 

vehicles, available with a real-time 

user interface, and multimodal 

connected vehicle data from the 

Safety Pilot Model Deployment in 

Ann Arbor, MI.

In addition, the Research Data 

Exchange features a new user 

interface and downloading 

capabilities. To explore the data 

and resources that are available and learn more about the features included in Release 2.0, visit http://

www.its-rde.net. For more information, contact Gene McHale at gene.mchale@dot.gov. 

Connected Vehicle Field Infrastructure Footprint Analysis Now Available

In partnership with Transport Canada and AASHTO, and in cooperation with other nationwide 

stakeholders, USDOT conducted analyses leading to a preliminary general concept of a National 

Connected Vehicle Field Infrastructure Footprint. The purpose of the Footprint Analysis is to provide a 

vision for a fully deployed infrastructure footprint, to identify the activities and project timelines needed 

to achieve that footprint, and to estimate costs associated with deployment. The Footprint Analysis final 

report is a useful resource to help those considering V2I deployment and to leverage developments in 

V2V communications. 

The final report is available at http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/52000/52600/52602/FHWA-JPO-14-125_v2.pdf . 

For more information, contact Ben McKeever at ben.mckeever@dot.gov. 

FHWA Cohosts Webinar on Connected Vehicles Pilot Deployments

On September 19, 2014, FHWA’s Ben McKeever and ITS JPO’s Walt Fehr cohosted a Webinar for 

USDOT’s Connected Vehicles Pilot Deployment Program, “Communications and the Role of DSRC.” 

The Program seeks to combine connected vehicle and mobile device technologies in innovative and costeffective ways. Ultimately, this program will improve traveler mobility and system productivity while 

reducing environmental impacts and enhancing safety. USDOT anticipates a procurement action for 

multiple pilot deployment concepts in 2015.

The second in a series, the Webinar included an overview of the Connected Vehicle Pilot Deployment 

Program, connected vehicle communication technologies, and the role of DSRC in connected vehicle 

pilots. It also included a stakeholder question and answer session. 

For more information about the Webinar, contact Ben McKeever at ben.mckeever@dot.gov. To learn 

more about the Connected Vehicle Pilots Deployment Program, visit http://www.its.dot.gov/pilots/

index.htm. 

Research Vehicle Fleet Upgraded

FHWA’s Office of Operations R&D recently outfitted its research vehicle fleet, which includes five 

Cadillac SRX Crossover vehicles equipped with the latest in-vehicle safety technologies, with automated 

longitudinal and speed control for further testing of connected automation applications. Once the 

upgraded vehicle platform is finalized, FHWA will begin implementing and testing CACC for the fivevehicle fleet. The speed controller available on the platform allows researchers to develop applications 

where the brake and throttle control is automated. In addition, the vehicles will use DSRC and cellular 

communications to share speed, heading, location, and gap information between vehicles to achieve 

smooth operation of a CACC platoon. For more information, contact Taylor Lochrane at 

taylor.lochrane@dot.gov. 

OPERATIONS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center 

Staff Updates

The Research Data Exchange collects real-time multimodal data 

from numerous sources across the country.

RELEASE 2.0 

IS HERE!

Dr. Govind Vadakpat joined 

the Transportation Operations 

Applications Team as a Research Transportation Specialist. 

He has a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Pennsylvania State 

University and over 15 years of 

practical experience as an ITS 

and traffic engineer.

Dr. Jia Hu is joining the Office 

of Operations R&D as a research associate through the 

National Research Council. His 

initial research at FHWA will 

be on minimizing fuel consumption and improving mobility of adaptive cruise controlequipped vehicles in platoons.

Michael Maness, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Maryland, completed his 1-year assignment as a Graduate Research 

Fellow with FHWA in August. 

He performed research on Active Transportation and Demand 

Management methodology and 

dynamic junction control.